Roommates
by naleyness
Summary: When Nathan gets kicked out of his dorm, he finds himself rooming in Lucas' apartment. L/N eventual Slash
1. Chapter 1

Roommates

Summary: When Nathan gets kicked out of his dorm, he finds himself rooming in Lucas' apartment. AU Slash.

Note: This is a story that has been in my head for a while and I've been going back and forth over how to approach things. This story will be a gradual progression towards Lathan and a look into their personal as well as physical relationship. This chapter is short but serves to introduce us into this world. Enjoy!

* * *

"You can just stay here with me?" Lucas offers and hopes he didn't come off as being too eager.

Lucas lucked out at the beginning of the semester. There was a housing shortage at UNC and he was able to rent a spacious semi-furnished one bedroom condo located in between Duke and UNC. The owner was a UNC alum who was transferred out of town for work and let the university sublet his condo for him. The apartment was big. As soon as you walked in, there was a coat closet to your left, then another closet which housed the laundry and then flowed into a kitchen which was completely open to the main living space where there was an island that separated the two. Just off the living space is a large bedroom with a huge walk in closet. The only downside was that the only access to the bathroom was from the bedroom but other than that the bathroom itself was also spacious with a separate tub and shower stall.

"You sure?" Nathan replies, offering Lucas an out. Nathan shudders at where Duke housing would put him up. There was some sort of pipe burst at his dormitory last week. Lucas was kind enough to let him crash while they fixed it but the problem was bigger than expected and everyone in the dorm was forced out for the rest of the semester.

But Lucas is grateful for the opportunity to get to know his brother better. Towards the end of high school, they made strides in building a real relationship, especially when a basketball title became more important than personal feelings. He thought that they could continue building on that relationship especially since their schools were nearby. Sure they were able to hang out here and there during the first few weeks of college but basketball kept Nathan pretty busy. This past week saw them hanging out all the time. Watching games on tv, fighting over the remote, heckling each other over NBA live. It seemed like they were making up for lost time and Lucas didn't mind Nathan's presence.

"Nate, it's fine. You've already been living here for a week already."

"But all my stuff is here in the living room."

Nathan points to a corner where has his luggage and the pillow on the couch where he sleeps.

"You must've forgotten about the big ass walk in closet I have." Lucas replied as he picks up Nathan's luggage and rolls over it over to his bedroom and into his closet.

"As you can tell, I'm no where close to filling this up." Lucas points out that his stuff fits on the left side of the closet with plenty of space left. "Although knowing you," he adds, "you might."

"Relax, moving's a bitch, I kept most of my things back in Tree Hill.. but are you sure? I have to go to the bathroom through your room and now my stuff. I don't want to impose."

Lucas' mind flashes to images of Nathan after taking a shower, towel hung lower across his hips, his chest and abs glistening… Lucas clears his throat and tries to push away such thoughts.

"You hog the remote all time, believe me you're already imposing." Lucas jokes. "But it's fine really, I mean I keep my door open anyway and its been okay so far, unless you have a problem?"

Nathan pauses for a moment. "I was just worried about bothering you but if your cool with it, I actually want to stay." Now it's Nathan's turn to sound as if he's not too eager. He'd much rather stay with Lucas than have Duke scramble to find him housing. He's heard horror stories from other people in his dorm, plus it was Luke. He gets along better with Lucas than his old roommate and sure they fight but their banter has always been part of their relationship. He likes it when he ribs on Lucas but more than that Lucas was someone Nathan could rely on, this recent housing crisis could attest to that. Nathan had always been used to being surrounded by people who were fake, Lucas wasn't one of those. Lucas was his brother and he too wanted to get to know him better.

"I really like the gym in this building too, no one ever uses it."

"And here I thought you wanted to hang out with your big bro." Lucas feigns feeling wounded.

Nathan rolls his eyes and reaches down to open his luggage to get his work out clothes. Nathan removes his shirt and pulls down his jeans. Slipping on a pair of basketball shorts,

"Be glad I'm here now so I can help you put some meat on these bones." Nathan jokes as squeezes Lucas biceps as he steps out.

"Hey, I'm okay, not everyone can look like they stepped out of an Abercrombie catalog." But as soon as the words come out of his mouth, Lucas is already shaking his head. He had meant to make an insult. Nathan looks down at his abs and just smirks.

"I walked right into that didn't I ?" Lucas shakes his head.

Nathan tries to hold back his laughter, "It's okay Luke, I know you want me."

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Roomates

Chapter 2

The first chapter was pretty short so I decided to upload the second one as well. Enjoy.

* * *

Nathan feels settled in his new home. He was worried at first, not knowing what to expect but he and Lucas had gotten along better than he expected. Well if you call name calling and petty fights getting along. Both brothers always ribbed on each other, Nathan did it every chance he got but it was one thing for him to do it than someone else though. This couldn't be more evident than when Luke met up with Nathan at Duke to grab lunch. Lucas was at a table waiting for Nathan when someone noticed his UNC notebook that Lucas got during orientation. Some ass started to heckle Lucas, that was until Nathan came into the picture and gave him a stern warning and to back off. The guy recognized Nathan as part of the basketball team and did just that.

"You know I could've handled that." Lucas replies as Nathan sits down to join him.

Nathan gives him a look that he's not buying whatever Lucas is trying to sell.

"Ass." Luke replies.

"Damn, here I am trying to help you out and you get mad at me." Nathan feigned hurt.

Lucas rolled his eyes. "I could've handled it." He stated and the two sat in silence for a minute. "But thanks though." Lucas replied softly and looks up to find Nathan smiling at him.

"No problem besides, I'm the only one that gets to beat up on you."

"Gee, thanks." Lucas replies dryly but feels oddly happy that Nathan is protective of him.

"But maybe we should get lunch outside campus tomorrow." Nathan adds.

Lucas realizes that they never made any lunch plans together but that's fine with him.

"I know this pizza place not too far from home." Lucas suggests and Nathan looks down at his food and smiles, calling the place where they live their home. They eat and chat casually and Nathan of course finishes his food early and snatches some of Lucas' fries.

"Hey!" Lucas protests and the two continue to trade barbs through out lunch.

. . . . .

It had been a few days since Nathan had officially moved in and Lucas collapses onto his bed, not caring that he's drenched in sweat. The two coming back from working out at the gym their condo had. Both liked it because no one even used it, maybe it was because it was down in the basement and pretty secluded. Lucas is happy for the workout because he's no longer playing basketball on a regular basis and was feeling a little sluggish before Nathan moved in. Now they go almost every day, and for an hour, he sees Nathan stretch and flex every single muscle. It's tortuous as it is motivating. Part of Lucas just wants to sit here and wait for Nathan to come out of the shower, change and then he can go back in to shower himself. But then a part of him also thinks that his bed, which happens to have a perfect view of his in-suite bathroom door, would be just as comfortable if not more.

Lucas could already picture Nathan coming out, his towel hung low on his waist, water glistening down… stop, Lucas shakes his head as he settles down onto his bed. He's started to think that he's been seeing a lot more of Nathan than he's bargained for. Just then, bathroom door suddenly opens and steam starts flowing out. Sure enough, Nathan is standing in front of the mirror, towel hung low around his waist and Lucas unsuccessfully tries not to watch as Nathan brushes his teeth.

Nathan notices Lucas sprawled out on his bed and turns to look at himself in the mirror. He can feels Lucas' gaze on him and a quick glance confirms it.

"I'll be done soon." He calls out.

Lucas musters a quick "Yeah."

Nathan chuckles to himself. Maybe next time, he'd go easier on Lucas at the gym. He opened the door to let some of the steam out and Nathan glanced from the corner of his eye and can't make out if Lucas has his eyes closed or if the boy was squinting again. He had a feeling it could've been the latter. The first night Nathan spent at Lucas,' he could feel Lucas' eyes on him. He normally slept without a shirt and Nathan knew by now when someone is checking him out. He'd work hard to get his body and its nice to feel appreciated. He always reveled in the power that gave him. He wasn't sure how he felt about Lucas looking at him and was going to put his shirt back on before he went to sleep but he caught a glimpse of Lucas checking himself out in the mirror, lifting his own shirt and checking out his own physique. Nathan chuckled to himself, loving the fact that Lucas was envious of his body. He decided to keep the shirt off. In fact, Nathan had made it a point to do so when at the apartment and to have Lucas join him during his workouts. He loved that he could rile up Lucas and felt satisfied when Lucas made that "Abercrombie" a couple of nights ago.

A few minutes later, Nathan steps out, "All yours."

"Thanks." Lucas mutters but is still tired. His eyes are fully opened now and sees Nathan's towel draped, glistening body before him. He watches with bated breath as Nathan passes by him and opens the door to the closet. The door is ajar and Lucas has a full view of Nathan bending over to grab to grab a pair of boxers on a lower shelf. Lucas can feel his heart start to race as he sees a perfect view of Nathan's ass. Lucas wonders if Nathan will drop his towel but instead, puts it on with the towel around his waist, then removing the towel. Lucas shakes his head and rushes to the bathroom. Stepping inside the shower, he turns the knob to make the water a little cooler.

To Be Continued . . . .


	3. Chapter 3

Roommates

Chapter 3

* * *

Nathan hears Lucas in the kitchen and finally decides to get up from the couch. He sees Lucas eating a bowl of cereal on the breakfast bar. Nathan takes the moment to stretch his body to help get him up. He sees Lucas trying to concentrate on his breakfast and Nathan just smiles to himself, feeling satisfied. He heads to the bathroom and a few minutes later comes out and joins Lucas.

Lucas wonders if the reason why Nathan walks around half naked all the time is to save on laundry because he doesn't know why he has so much clothes in the closet. Nathan pours himself a glass of orange juice and instead of sitting down, leans against the counter. He still has a little bit of bed hair but the way he was leaning against the counter, drink in his hand and the sun shining through the room, Lucas swears this is a page out of an underwear ad you find in magazines.

They start making casual talk until Lucas realizes the he has to leave for class.

"Don't forget, you're ticket is here on the counter!" Nathan points it out, reminding Lucas of tonight's game.

. . . . .

Lucas rushes to the Duke campus and is glad that he's not as late as he thought he would be. The last thing he wanted to do was be late to tonight's game. It was the first one Lucas was going to attend and Nathan was able to get him pretty good seats. All the other times, he only caught it on tv. As Lucas walks down the stairs to his seat, he's glad that he's on the isle, it'll make it a lot easier for him to step out to get a snack or go to the bathroom. The game is set to start any minute now and Lucas spots Nathan huddled up with the rest of the team.

Lucas takes his seat next to the throngs of screaming Duke fans. He expected nothing less. Lucas removes his jacket to reveal the Duke basketball jersey underneath. He gladly supports his brother despite being from a rival school. Although the jacket helps, just in case he runs into anyone from UNC.

"Oh shit, where'd you get that?"

Lucas is confused and turns to a Duke student sitting next to him. His friend also joins in.

"Yeah man, you broke into the locker room or something?"

"I'm sorry." Lucas doesn't know what they're talking about.

"Your jersey."

Lucas looks down at the number 12 on his jersey.

"What about it?" Lucas asks.

"That's an official Duke jersey.. like the actual jersey the players wear. They don't sell that at the campus store."

"Yeah." The other friend replies, "The players only get only get 4 jerseys, two home and two away. It's a tradition at Duke that only someone important gets it… like girlfriends or family."

"Oh." Lucas blushes slightly and he tilts his body around so they could see the word _SCOTT_ firmly imprinted on his back. "I'm his brother." Lucas tries not to sound too happy.

. . . . . . .

"You okay?" Quentin asks Nathan.

"Huh?"

"What's up with you, you've totally been spacing out."

"I'm fine." Nathan replies as he walks with Quentin back to the bleachers for one last team huddle before the game starts. As he walks his eyes scan back into the crowd. And then there finally, he sees Lucas and his Duke jersey that's he's wearing. The two make eye contact, they offer each other a smile and a nod.

"You sure, cuz we got a game to win."

"Don't worry, I got this." Nathan replies with confidence and gives Lucas another smile before getting into the team huddle.

. . . . .

"We don't have to go." Lucas says as he walks alongside Nathan. "I mean your teammates seem cool." Lucas was hesitant about attending the after party for Duke's triumphant victory tonight, mainly because he was from a rival school and didn't know anyone there except Nathan. Luckily, they didn't give him too much grief about it. He had a nagging feeling that Nathan may have said something to them before hand, either way he had a much better time than he expected.

"And you guys had a good game.. you had a great game. You should stay and celebrate." Nathan was one of the leading scorers tonight. During the game, there were plenty of times after a big play, Nathan would glance up at Lucas and the two would smile and nod at each other. The guys sitting next to Lucas got a kick from it and thought it was so cool to have Nathan's brother sitting next to them.

Nathan smiles. "I told you Luke it's okay. Besides, one of the downside of having a great game is being wiped. Most of the guys were going to leave soon anyways." Nathan was glad to celebrate but the party was getting a little too loud. He normally wouldn't have minded but he was really beat.

"I'm glad you enjoyed." Nathan says after a few minutes of silence.

"Are you kidding me? I almost forgot how it was."

"You miss it? The game?"

"Yeah." Lucas says with a touch of sadness. "But I'm glad at least one of us is still playing. You totally killed it tonight." Lucas smiles proudly, no trace of regret or bitterness in his voice.

"Thanks, it meant a lot you came." Nathan smiles warmly as he pats Lucas' shoulder and keeps his one arm around Lucas. Lucas smiles back, knowing full well how much it meant to Nathan for Lucas to be there. Nathan had constantly reminded Lucas all week. "Thank you for the seats and the jersey.. you should've seen these guys next to me. They freaked out when they saw I had an official jersey on and even more so when I told him who I was."

"Yeah? Well you better not have stain it." Nathan quips. The two quickly start bantering, all the while, Nathan's strong arms remained around Lucas shoulder until they reached the car in a nearby parking deck.

TBC


End file.
